Tragedy struck the Ijora Badia area of Lagos State when a two-year-old boy, Ibrahim, died after eating a alleged poisoned plate of rice.
DAILY POST gathered that the deceased’s mother, Fatimoh Azeez, admitted to have prepared the food. She however said the food was eaten by other members of her family who were not hurt.
As confusion arose following the toddler’s death, Fatimoh said she suspected one of her sisters-in-law, Fatimoh Rasaki, to have a hand in the death of the child. The sister-in-law was said had visited her on the day of the incident.
The mother of the deceased, had reportedly got pregnant for her lover lover, Isa and was delivered of the baby boy. The lovers were apparently living together when Fatimoh’s parents took her and the baby away to their house on Akosile Street; however, Isa was reportedly allowed to visit both mother and child.
On one of such visits, Isa had a disagreement with his mother-in-law, which escalated into a fight with his girlfriend. Fatimoh’s family at this point, stopped him from visiting the child.
Isa’s sisters, Fatimoh Rasaki and Latifah Musbau, both married with children, were said to have visited Fatimoh’s family on the said Sunday, to intercede in the couple’s dispute, when the child died.
Fatimoh reported the matter at the Ijora Badia division police station saying that: “On August 16, by 11 am, I was washing clothes when I saw my two sisters-in-law coming into the house to meet my parents. I saw as Rasaki carried my child and began to feed him with rice. I quickly rushed there and grabbed him from her and strapped him to my back.
“I was upset because I feared he could be poisoned.
“After I gave birth to my child, my husband’s people started maltreating me and sent me out of the house. I decided to stay with my parents.
“When my son slept off, I decided to lay him to sleep; when he suddenly started shaking uncontrollably. I rushed him to a hospital, where the doctor said he had died. I was the one who prepared the rice and it was eaten by all members of my family, how come only one died?” Fatimoh quizzed.
Rasaki and Latifah, the sisters-in-law, upon hearing the news, rushed to the house. They were however arrested by the policemen, before the case was transferred to the State Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba.
Following the arrest, Latifah, a tailor, denied having anything to do with the death of the child.
“It was when Fatimoh became pregnant that we knew she and Isa had been dating. She stayed with my mother and gave birth to the child, before her parents took her away.
“After that, Isa started going to visit the boy. But one day, Isa had a disagreement with his mother-in-law. His girlfriend also started harassing him anywhere she spotted him. We warned him to stop visiting them and he did.”
She said their father, who had been ill, appealed to them on his death bed to make peace with Fatimoh’s parents and bring the child back home.
“The visit was on the request of our late father, who pleaded with us to resolve the dispute between the two families,” she noted.
“When we arrived at Fatimoh’s parents’ house,” she continued, “it was only her mother that was around. We also saw three kids eating rice in different plates. We did not know which of them Ibrahim was. Her mother started abusing us, saying she would deal with us for all we made her daughter go through.
“She was still talking when Fatimoh suddenly rushed into the room, carried the child and strapped her to her back. She then stormed out of the room. Later, her father arrived and we broke the news of our father’s death to him. He condoled with us and said the dispute would soon be settled.”
Speaking further, she said after they heard the news, they all rushed back to Fatimoh’s house and saw the corpse of the boy.
“It was while condoling with the family, the police came and arrested us,” Latifah noted.
The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Patricia Amadin, when contacted on the incident, promised to look into the matter and recover all the necessary dealings in connection with the boy’s death.
“It is still not clear what killed the child. But we are suspecting food poisoning. The remaining food eaten by the boy had already been packed for test and we are awaiting the autopsy report.
“Once there is a problem with the food, the women will have a case to answer.”
At the time of filling this report, Latifah insisted she had nothing to do with the death.
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